Multi-electrode gaseous-discharge tube circuit



July 3, 19 56 R. c. M. BARNES ETAL 2,753,433

MULTI-ELECTRODE GASEOUS-DISCHARGE TUBE CIRCUIT Filed Feb. 21, 1952 Ii -L /x 10:: lOOx Attorney United States Patent Oflice 2,753,488 Patented July 3, 1956 MULTI-ELECTRODE GASEOUS-DISCHARGE TUBE CIRCUIT Richard Charles Moss Barnes, Abingdon, and Edmund Harry Cooke-Yarborouglr, Faringdon, England, assignors to National Research Development Corporation, London, England Application February 21, 1952, Serial No. 272,853

1 Claim. (Cl. 315--84.6)

This invention relates to electrical circuit arrangements using multi-cathode gaseous-discharge tubes. Circuits according to the invention have applications in electronic calculating machines.

Multi-cathode gaseous-discharge tubes, sometimes referred to as cold cathode counting tubes or polycathode glow tubes, have been described in the literature including an article Polycathode glow tube for counters, by J. J. Lamb and J. A. Brustman, (Electronics, McGraw- Hill Publishing Company, November 1949, pages 92-96), an article The Dekatron--a new cold cathode counting tube by R. C. Bacon and I. R. Pollard (Electronic Engineering, vol. 22, No. 267, May 1950, pages 173-177) and an article Multicathode gas-tube counters, by G. H. Hough and D. S. Ridler (Electrical Communication, vol. 27, No. 3, September 1950, pages 214-226).

Circuits for such tubes having applications in calculating machines are described in Patent No. 2,664,555 and application Serial No. 273,312 filed February 19, 1952, now Patent 2,714,179, for. Multi-Electrode Gaseous-Discharge Tube Circuits, and in so far as such circuits employ tubes having two sets of guide cathodes the tubes require to be operated by pairs of pulses, one pulse being applied to each set of guides.

An object of the present invention is to provide a simple means for switching such pulse pairs to any one tube of a block of tubes constituting a plurality of multi-digit stores.

According to the invention a circuit comprises a block of multi-cathode gaseous-discharge tubes of the type wherein the discharge is moved by the application of pulses to first guide cathodes and related pulses to second guide cathodes, an array of connections each common to the first guide cathodes of all tubes in a row of the block and an array of connections each common to the second guide cathodes of all tubes in a column of the block, switch means in each common connection of one of said arrays and a common feed connection to said switches.

The invention will now be further described with reference to the accompanying diagram of a cross-bar circuit in accordance with the invention.

The diagram shows a block of three stores, A, B, and C, each comprising three counting tubes, 1, 10 and 100, representing the units, tens, and hundreds digits respectively of the number stored. Each tube has an anode a, main cathode b and a pair of guide cathodes c1, and c2. All the guide cathodes c1, of the tubes of each store A, B, and C, are connected to common bars, x1, x2 and 13 respectively controlled by switches S1, S2 and S3. All the guide cathodes c2 of the tubes of each significance are connected to common cross-bars 1x, 10x and x respectively.

In operation, trains of pulses which provide the first pulse of each pair are fed to line L and trains of intercalated pulses providing the second pulse of each pair are fed to a cross-bar 1x, 10x or 100x according to the digital significance of the train. Thus trains of pulse pairs are routed to any one tube by means of a single switch S1, S2 or S3.

We claim:

An array of multi-cathode gas discharge tubes, each said gas discharge tube comprising a main cathode means, an anode for said main cathode means, :a source of electrical potential connected between the anode and said main cathode means, a set of first and second guide cathodes, said gas discharge tube requiring pulses to both of said first and said second guide cathodes to cause current to flow between said main cathode means and said anode, said array comprising rows and! columns transversely of said rows, a circuit for inter-connecting said tubes, said circuit comprising a common connection to the first guide cathodes of all tubes in a respective row of the array, a feed connection to a series of switches, said switches comprising a switch means to each said common connection, said circuit also comprising a series of unswitched connections, each common to the second guide cathodes of all the tubes in a respective column of the array, whereby a pulse may be fed to a selected switched connection, and an associated pulse may be fed to a selected unswitched connection, the concurrence of the two pulses causing a flow of electrons from said main cathode means to said anode of a selected tube of the array.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,317,471 Meacham Apr. 27, 1943 2,542,672 Hecht Feb. 20, 1951 2,594,389 Bruce Apr. 29, 1952 

